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TX City Fears Battery Recycler's Expansion Would Worsen Lead Levels

"Thousands of people in the heart of Frisco [Texas] are exposed to toxic lead pollution from a battery recycling plant that wants to expand production.

Exide Technologies Inc. operates the decades-old lead smelter that's flanked by Frisco's downtown, a high school and several neighborhoods and businesses. Its lead emissions make Collin County one of only 18 counties nationwide not expected to meet new, more stringent air-quality standards. It is expected to be the only such designation in the south-central United States.

Recent research shows that lead poses a greater risk to people than scientists once thought. And it's especially detrimental to children, who can suffer from learning problems, diminished IQs and brain damage."